The International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health (ISASH) is supporting the next generation of safety and health professionals by offering 10 scholarships in the amount of $500 each to attend its June 2016 conference in Lexington, Ky.

The announcement of scholarships by the U.S.-based society comes just ahead of National Farm Safety and Health Week, Sept. 20-26. #ISASH, #FSHW15, #farmsafety

“This year’s National Farm Safety and Health Week theme, ‘Ag Safety is not just a slogan: it’s a lifestyle,’ is best served by everyone working together to build a safer and healthier agricultural work place,” said ISASH President Marcel Hacault, Canadian Agricultural Safety Association. “No matter their field of study, these students might find a career in ag safety.”

ISASH membership includes students, engineers, educators, insurers, physicians, nurses, veterinarians, statisticians, communicators, anthropologists, business leaders and others. Many of them have extensive farm and ranch backgrounds.

Agriculture lags other North American industries in reducing the toll on its workers – it has a fatality rate eight times that of the all-industry average.

U.S. and international college student applicants will need to submit an abstract and have that abstract approved by the ISASH Research and Development Committee to be considered for the scholarships. Scholarship winners will also have conference registration fees waived. The call for abstracts is expected mid-October. The process to apply for scholarships will be posted here.

For more information on National Farm Safety and Health Week, visit the website of the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety.

For more information about ISASH, including membership, go to www.isash.org ; or contact ISASH Secretary Chip Petrea (217-333-5035, repetrea@illinois.edu or President Marcel Hacault (204-261-4948, mhacault@casa-acsa.ca).

2015-2016 ISASH Board of Directors: Marcel Hacault, Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (president); Aaron Yoder, University of Nebraska (president-elect); Scott Heiberger, National Farm Medicine Center; Peter Lundqvist, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; Debra McCallum, University of Alabama; Sandra Miller, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services; Michael Pate, Utah State University; Risto Rautiainen, University of Nebraska; Chris Shivers, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation. Ex-Officio to the board: Nancy Hetzel (treasurer); Chip Petrea, University of Illinois (secretary); David Hard, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (financial officer).